Grandma’s Cast Iron Skillet

Oh how I miss having grandma’s cast iron skillet. Not only because it was the very best skillet I ever owned for creating evenly cooked, delicious foods but because of the memories I had of her using it before I inherited it.  I cried when it finally met it’s demise!  I’ve had a variety of skillets since then and none have cooked as well as that one did.  I have tried some of the new non-stick surface skillets as well as some stainless steel ones, but nothing cooked as well as grandma’s cast iron one. I am not sure if they just aren’t as good as the old fashioned cast iron ones, or if it is because they don’t conjure up all the wonderful memories of watching grandma cook.

I could cook everything from “johnny cake” and biscuits to fried chicken in there!  Not a day went by that I didn’t use it. In the morning it would get used for cooking fried eggs, beautiful sunny side up ones with just a smattering film over the top from splashing hot grease from the pan over them. At lunch time I would use it to make bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches or grilled cheese sandwiches. For dinner either a big skillet of fried chicken or a skillet filled with meat balls and sauce for spaghetti.  I could put it on top of the stove or in the oven and know that everything would be cooked to perfection.

It is time to invest in another cast iron skillet. I don’t want a new one, I want one that is old and crusted on the outside, that shows it was used and enjoyed over the years. There is nothing better than one that is well seasoned .

I am off to the second hand store to see if I can find someone else’s grandma’s skillet!

Is Winter About Over?

Well according to our weatherman, we just have a couple more cold fronts that will move through Oklahoma before we can expect some spring weather.  One of those cold fronts is due to hit here tonight or overnight, bringing temperatures dropping down into the 20’s and followed by rain, sleet, ice and possibly snow to some parts of the state.  Luckily, in the middle of the state, where I am at, they say we are likely to have a “wintery mix” and possibly up to an inch of snow that should burn off sometime late on Friday.

All I know is that it is time for some comfort food!  So out comes the crock-pot and I am in the process of making some good homemade potato soup.  I love my daughter’s recipe but sorry to say I don’t have all the “extra goodies” that she puts into hers. She always adds sour cream and half and half into her soup, neither of which I have on hand at the moment. So I will substitute with a can of evaporated milk and add in a little extra butter in hopes of giving it that rich full bodied flavor.






I thought about doing some meatless chili, which I may make tomorrow or perhaps a big pan of mac and cheese, one of my all time favorites.

I am so anxious for the little buds of spring to start peaking thru the ground. I have a beautiful growth of daffodils or jonquils as some people call them, that I love to cut and bring in the house to brighten things up!

It is time to go visiting some of the gardening websites, I’m already getting emails about it being time to start some seedlings indoors in preparation for spring planting. This year, I have GOT to have a good producing garden. Last year’s was a total flop! 

I hope you are all pulling out your gardening magazines, or visiting your favorite gardening websites to get some ideas about what to plant this year.

Come on spring!

Ziplock Omelets

With holidays just around the corner, many of you will be having out-of-town guests and you don't want to spend all of your time in the kitchen. Here is a really neat breakfast idea that a friend sent to me today by e-mail and I just had to share it with you.

Ziplock Omelets

Have your guests write their name on a Quart sized zip lock freezer bag with a permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra large into the bag (no more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients: cheese, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc

Have each guest add prepared ingredients of their choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for no less that 13 minutes and no more than 15 minutes.

You can cook 6-8 bags in a large pot at one time.

Open the bags (cut off the tops) and the omelet will roll out all folded nicely. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed!  

These can actually be prepared the night before, stuck into the refrigerator and then pulled out to cook in the morning.

Serve with fresh fruit or coffee cake, or my choice of homemade baking powder biscuits!

Life by the buttons on the microwave

What a strange title you say! Well, that was all I can think of when I looked at my microwave the other day.

I used to cook for a large family in my younger years. It was get the largest fry pan that I could find, a huge soup pot and dutch oven, big mixing bowls to use as serving bowls for a family of seven! Over the years the size of my family shrank and eventually I had just the two girls at home and then they went off and married and I was left alone with the bewilderment of cooking for one!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to cook for one person after you have cooked for a crowd all your life? As my mom would have said " It ain't easy McGee!" Even after having an empty nest now for going on 13 years now, I still have not learned how to cut things down to where I don't have leftovers or worse yet, the desire to cook at all. So I have been making an effort to get back into the habit of cooking again and eating healthier.

Several months ago, my old microwave of about 7 years gave up the ghost. One day it just started arching inside and spitting and fuming like no one's business. Needless to say, I hit the stop and yanked the cord really quick. After the initial shock of it dying on me, I carted it out to the trash.

For about a week I thought to myself, I can do without this wonderful piece of modern equipment and then I finally gave in and decided I couldn't. So off to Bed, Bath and Beyond I went with my unused Christmas Gift card of a year old ( I knew I saved it for some good reason) and purchased a new one. I decided on a little model that I really liked and when I got there, found that the floor model was the only one left so got an additional discount on it!

Now this little microwave has plastic over the top of the numbers on the touch pad. I realized the other day, that I've been using my fingernail rather than the pad of my finger to hit the numbers and that the plastic has broken through. I found it very interesting, because you can almost tell what I cook but the numbers that are worn.

Heating up coffee 1.00 minute
Heating up food 3.30 minutes
Cooking potatoes 6.00 to 8.00 minutes
Boiling hard boiled eggs 10-15 minutes

At least the buttons aren't worn where you would find for TV dinners so you can tell I do actually cook.

The crock pot has a permanent place on my counter top. I find that I use my crock pot a lot. I'll make up a big batch of beans or rice and then split it down after cooking into smaller portions to be frozen for later. I love to make lots of cooked vegetables in the crock pot and then add rice and seasonings for a meal. I'll take some of the beans and smash them up and make refried beans since I love Mexican food.

A place of honor is reserved on my counter for my bread machine. I will make a fresh loaf of bread several times a week. I will make one white and one wheat loaf. I enjoy toast in the morning with my coffee and will often eat sandwiches for both lunch and dinner. At dinner, I'll add a salad or a bowl of vegetables and rice and I am good to go!

I love homemade potato salad and this is really my downfall and with summer around the corner, look out..... I'll be making a lot of it. There is nothing like Grandma B's recipe so I am going to post it on here for all of you to try also.